DoT to receive 687 MHz of unused spectrum, says Jyotiraditya Scindia

The telecom sector will now have 1,587 MHz of its 2,000 MHz requirement by 2030

The Union Cabinet has approved a one-time re-farming of unused mobile spectrum allocated to ministries, resulting in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) receiving 687 MHz of spectrum, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday. The re-allocation will see DoT gaining 687 MHz of spectrum from other ministries, raising the total spectrum available for the telecom sector to 1,587 MHz.

 

A committee of secretaries had been set up to assess the amount of spectrum allocated to each ministry and determine whether it was being productively used, Scindia said at the COAI DIGICOM Summit 2025.

 

Of the 687 MHz spectrum approved, 328 MHz will be released immediately. "Some spectrum will be made available by the end of next year and then some by the end of 2028 and 2029, which prepares us for 2030," the Minister said. The re-farmed spectrum comes mostly from the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), officials said.

 

India needs 2,000 MHz of spectrum across different bands to optimally run mobile services by 2030. "Of this, across 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, we already have 900 MHz. That means we have a gap of 1,100 MHz by 2030," Scindia said. DoT has requested additional spectrum to make up for the balance requirement, which will be assessed by the committee in a second round of consultations by the end of the year, he added.

 

Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) lauded the move. "We are very happy to note the Cabinet has already allocated the spectrum that takes our holding to 320 MHz in the first phase, thus leaving a deficit of around 400 MHz, which should be made up in the subsequent submissions by the Committee of Secretaries to the Cabinet," COAI Director General S.P. Kochhar said in a statement.

 

BSNL 4G on time

 

At the same event, the Minister said state-run telco BSNL has completed the installation of 72,000 4G towers, in line with its aim of installing 1 lakh towers by mid-2025 and rolling out commercial 4G services.

 

BSNL’s plans to launch 4G services years after the three private telecom service providers—Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea—rolled it out, have repeatedly been delayed. BSNL’s customer base stood at 92.3 million, while its wireless market share was 8.05 per cent as of October-end. BSNL officials had earlier indicated that the December 2023, June 2024, and 2024-end deadlines for completing the 4G rollout could not be met due to operational challenges.

 

Scindia said updated rules have lowered the number of pending Right of Way applications to 3,800, down from 71,000 three years ago.

 

The government is in talks with telcos to explore the possibility of setting up dedicated telecom manufacturing zones to raise telecom exports beyond the current Rs 25,000 crore.